heinze



.1. O. HEINZE.

Patented Spt. 16, '1919;

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

.|. 0. HEINZE.

TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 4. I9Ie.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

2. W m H 0 w m n G n i, H y 4,

UiaiTED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE. i'

JOHN OTTO HEINZ-E, 0F SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, `ASSIG'NOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ALVINF.

KNOBLOCH, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

TURBINE.

Specicationv of Letters Patent.

Application led November 4, 1 916. Serial No. 129,541. l

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN O. HEINZE, a citizen of the United States,residin at Springield, Clark county, and State of hioa have invented anddiscovered certain new and useful Improvements in Turbine Coristruction,of which the following is a specification. y

My said invention relates to turbines and consists in the combinationsand arrangements of elements hereinafter described and particularly setforth in the claims.V

The invention has for its purpose to provide a turbine of the opposed oroppositelymoving-rotor type wherein both elements thereof are providedwith independent starting motors that are alsooperable as. sepa'- rategenerators with the rotors working as their respective prime movers.

Another object of the invention resides in constructing and disposing.the vvaries of the rotors to provide a central fuel suctionror chargeforming vchamber and a surrounding explosive or energy utilizing chamberto the end of obtaining a perfectly balanced and easy running motor, andone wherein all strains and wearin are symmetrically distributed to thewor ing parts.

A further feature of'advantage in the construction lies in the novelarrangement of transmission gearing by which the power derived frombothA rotors is connected to operate the driven shaft in a manner thatderives the maximum efficacy from the engine.

With is embodied in preferable form in the construction and arrangementhereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Inthese drawings, Figure ltis a side view in elevation of the turbine;Fig. 2, a central section on the line 2 2 of 1; Fig. 3, a section on theline 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4, a section through the driving mechanism onthe line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig.. 5, a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. y3;and Fig. 6, a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, 1-1 indicate hollow shafts each adapted toconnect at its outer end with a suitable source of iuid such as steam,or to a carbureter or other means for supplying a combustible mixture ofair and liquid hydrocarbon. On each of accompanying these objects inview, my invention these hollow shafts adjacent the outer end thereof ismounted an electric motor 2 which is supplied with ycurrent from anysuitable source and which is adapted to serve as a starting means forthe shafts andthe rotor members carried thereby, and which are alsoadapted to serve as generators to recharge a battery supplying currentfor an ignition circuit or other purpose. On the inner end of each shaftis mounted a disk 2 constituting a rotor member. These disks are mountedwith their faces adjacent and opposing one another and they form acircular casing which is fluid tight vaxially and open at its periphery.Theyy are inclosed within a cover 3 which is fixed to the shaft casing4. The disks are adapted to be driven in opposite directions both by thestarting motors and the iuid medium of the engine.

Extending axially and inwardly from the face of each disk is aI seriesof suction and compression blades-5 which blades have a' form`substantially the same as that of the well known Sirocco pressure fanelements and the curve of their cross sections and the angle of theirconnection to the face of the blades are Asuch that they will act todraw lin the gaseous fluid'from the hollow shaft conduits and compressthe same within the supply chamber in the inner portion of the casing.The corresponding and interacting compression blades of the twooppositely rotating disks are disposed with their faces in 0ppositepositions in order to corres ond with the directions of rotation of saiddis Each disk is provided with a number of concentric series 4or stepsof these blades and in the drawings, each disk is shown as having threeof such stepped sets but a greater or less number may be provided, ifdesired. The concentric sets of the respective blades are arrangedalternately and with the blades of corresponding sets of each diskadapted to overlap those of the other as shown in Fig. 3. These sets ofcompression blades occupy only the inner portion' of the face of eachdisk.

On the remaining outer concentric circular area of the face of eachrotor disk isy mounted a series of interactive pressure receiving orpressure imparting elements con-` sisting of propeller turbine blades 6which in the particular embodiment illustrated in the drawings arepreferably of the form of Patented sept. 16, 1919.

the directions of. rotation of said disks.l

These propeller blades are also adapted to overlap, with the bladesofthe respective ksteps projecting alternately from the two disks. I

Between the blades of the inner series which constitute the gas feedingand compression members and the outer series which constitute thepropeller members is mounted a Wire guard screen 7 which is adapted toprevent a back flame from the space occupied by the propeller blades ofthe disks. This screen thus divides the' casing formed by the twofluid-tight disks into an outer combustion Chamberland an inner supplychamber.

The blades of the two adjacent concentric rows of the compressorelements and propeller have the tangents of their curves flattened morethan the other elements, whereby Van easy and comparatively direct feedof the gas is eected, from the supply chamber to the combustion chamber.

Carried by eachB hollow shaft 1 is a driving screw 8 adapted to engage aworm 9 carried at the upper end of a connecting shaft 10, each carryinga driving gear 11 carried by a fly wheel or clutch 12 mounted on a shaft13 which connects with the object to be driven. A spark plug 14 providesthe initial ignition for the combustible gaseous mixture in thecombustion chamber. After the turbine has become started, continuousycombustion is maintained by the lflame of the gases. In the periphery ofthe casing is an exhaust opening l5 through which the spent fluidescapes.

In the operation of the particular embodiment of the invention hereindescribed and illustrated, each rotor-carrying `shaft 1 is started byits individual electric motor 2, by throwing on switches controlling thecircuit through said motors and a battery, and,

thereupon the two rotors will be driven in opposite directions, and asthey rotate, the

.opposite compression and suction elements 5 on the two members willdraw a combustible i `gaseous mixture through the hollow shafts into thecommon inlet chamber and the casing. In the use of a combustible gaseousmixture it is necessary that l'the gas entering the combustion chamberhave a pressure greater than that Iwithin the combustion chamber inorder to enable the gas Such compression is increased to a sufiicientlyeffective degree by the provision of several series of. such blades.suction will be induced through the conduits l on the source of supplyby the centrifugal action of the elements 5 and hence these blades mayalso be roperly characterized as suction means. 'Flic gaseous fluid iscarried outwardly toward the periphery of the device and forced throughthe wire guard screen 7 into the combustion chamber, where it is ignitedinitially by the spark of the plug, and then continuously thereafter bythe ame in the combustion chamber. As the gas expands it exerts an equalactive and reactive pressure against each pair of overlapping bladescarried by the respective rotors, and as both rotors are freely movableboth are rotated by such expansive pressure, and the shafts 1 arethereby driven.

As the gas passes from such median line toward the periphery, itspressure will gradually decrease, but the area of the contact surface ofthe propeller elements will increase owing to `the greater-diameters ofthe outer circles of blades. The exhaust passes out through theperipheral opening 15. The oppositely rotating disks turn the shafts lin opposite directions and in turn they drive the worms which connectwith and drive the common driven shaft 13.`

The principal feature of my invention lies in making the co-actingpropeller blades which sustain the pressure of the fluid or impartpressure thereto, rotatable in opposite directions, as distinguishedfrom those turbines in which one element is movable and the other fixed.This arrangement pro Vides two interacting rotors as compared with larotor and a stator and utilizes the velocity of the expanding gases inboth directions. This feature is of advantage in connection with eithermotor or pumping devices and with constructions employing steam, air, acombustible gaseous mixture or water as the fluid medium.

Of course, a`

Another function of the oppositely rotating rotors is to enable theneutralization of the effect of gyroscopic action on a vehicle or objecton which. the engine may be mounted which is a point of specialimportance in the utilization of the engine on -aeroplanes It is clearthat the principle of oppositely rotating blade elements may be embodiedin a construction in which other forms of rotor members than disks areemployed, as for instance, rotors of thecharacter now used in turbineconstruction.

The compression andsuction producing means is another element notdependent upon the particular form thereof herein described 'or upon itscoperation with the other features ofthe invention. This elementdispenses with the necessity of using separate forcing or compressingmeans for the gas or air, and also by the mounting of said elements onthe same rotating supports as the propeller elements a convenient andeffective mode of insuring automatically the proper relation betweensupply and demand of gas is provided. That is, a continuous combustionturbine engine having self-feeding and self-compressing functions isprovided.

Another feature of importance which is equally useful with either thecompressionsuction blades or the propeller blades is the disk form ofthe rotors.

These disks constitute a gas tight casing, forming a compression-supplychamber and a combustion chamber, between which disks the fluid mediumis admitted and in which casing compression and expansion take place.They also provide a common rotating support for the compressor and powergenerating elements and hence advantageous means for driving bothelements at the same speed and obtainingl the proper proportion be-4tween the gas supplied and the gas combusted. They also enable suchdistribution of the fluid medium radially from the center of the engineand throughout all radii of the disks, thus obtaining a simultaneousdistribution of the fluid medium to all the power elements adjacent thecompression elements, and with such distribution from admlsslon pointswhich rotate with the compression elements obtaining a wntinuous freeflow of the fluid.

These disks also coperate with the hollo-W conduit shafts in obtainingan axial feed of the fluid.

The hollow shafts perform the functions of driven members adapted tohave external power applied thereto for starting purposes or to drivethe turbine as a blower or pump, as driving members and as axial freeconduits. Theyalso form mixing chambers for the combustible vapor andair when such a mixture is used and the rotary action of the compressormembers increases the thoroughness of the mixing.

Since the hollow shafts lead from independent sources of supply to acommon delivery point, and are axially opposed, they also serve aseffective means to enable the use and the mixing of two fluids ofdifferent character, as for instance, air and liquid hydrocarbon vapor,either that of gasolene or kerosene` or the diverse .feeding of thesetwo vapors. The two currents of fluid are with considerable force.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim is:

1. In a ,turbine engine the combination of a. casing, a. hollow shaftjournaled in the casing, a rotor mounted on said shaft and operable inthe casing, said rotor receiving directly opposed and thus meet and mixthe fluid medimn by radial flow from said charges by radial flow fromsaid shafts re' spectively, a screen located between the rotors andseparating the rotors into concentric areas for receiving and expendi'ngthe combustible charges, substantially as set forth.

3. In a turbine engine the combination of a casing having shaft journalbearings opposedhollow shafts journaled in said bearings andcommunicating lat their outer ends with a supply of gas and at theirinner ends with the engine, opposing disks carried by said shafts,suction and compression blades carried by said disks, and pressureblades also carried by said disks.

l. In a turbine engine the combination of a pair of opposed suitablymounted hollow shafts, opposing disks carried by said shafts, suctionand compression blades carried by said disks adjacent the axis thereof,pressure blades carried by said disks adjacent the periphery thereof anda screen disposed between the suction and compression, and pressureblades in and for the purpose described.

-In Witness whereof, I have hereunto Set my hand and seal atIndianapolis, Marion county, Indiana this 29th day of September, A. D.nineteen hundred and sixteen.

JOHN OTTO HEINZE.

